User blog:Deathstalker666/QuakeWikia Server
Just a useful feature list to keep everyone up to date on what the server is looking like. I originally had it sorted by mods I was and wasn't using, but found too many of them I was deviating from the intended design, or just was picking and choosing small parts of convoluted mods. Needless to say, I wished for something with a bit more organization. So here we are, a nice list just clarifying what the features of the server are. Note that I am trying to make sure server incompatibilities have nothing to do with me. So while there are known issues, I can verify most of them were existent in the mods where I ripped the code from. I have tried using PAK Explorer to make transferring the files a bit easier, but the problem is that detection of files has been less than reliable. It seems to pick and choose what works and doesn't work, so that it ends up failing at random points. Raw files aren't as user friendly to install or transfer over, but at least when placed in a directory we can be assured they work. See credits at the bottom for the base I worked with. Many mods were slightly altered, merged together, or just had large portions changed around to fit the design mentality. Randomizer The biggest feature of our server is a mass randomization feature. No longer is every playthrough the same, in fact each time you die the level will be reset to be an entirely different experience. This means it is much harder for the game to get stagnant, since you never know exactly what you will get. A big focus of the server since the introduction of the randomizer has been with adding as much content as we can to it, providing a large variety of opponents for the player to face. Monster Randomizer= By far, the largest randomizer we have and the one that has the most custom resources is the Monster Randomizer. Every vanilla enemy in the game, outside of the Zombie (which wasn't included due to the crucified variants seemingly messing things up), now has a chance of being replaced with another random opponent. Note that the randomization can have some side effects. Most notable is that bounding boxes are a thing; there are cases where an opponent can get stuck because a Monster with a smaller bounding box was originally intended to be located in that spot. I could cut down on randomization so that it cannot make an enemy larger than the intended bounding box, but the problem is that most opponents will work perfectly fine. I think the occasional stuck enemy is better than a more stable but less chaotic form of randomization. Reskinned opponents such as the Yeti and Blazing Fiend exist at a rarer chance than totally new opponents like the Snakeman or Psionic Slug. This means we now have some rare treasures to find and face within the randomizer. Slug_fire.png|Psionic Slug - Whistles a merry tune as it smokes mental rings across the 4th dimension. It is even tutti fruity! Spider_fire2.png|Spider - Jumps around, shoots annoyingly weak attacks, but refuses to die. Hope you enjoy playing pest control. Snakeman_fire.png|Snakeman - A mercenary hired by Quake just to take you down. Unluckily for you, he takes his job seriously. BlazeFiend_fire.png|Blazing Fiend - A monster so overpowered that it likely shouldn't even be included in a regular list. Can gib a Shambler in one shot, has more health than any vanilla opponent, and is so fast he can "blink" from location to location. Did we mention we are sadists? Yeti_fire.png|Yeti - What are frozen behemoths doing working with an Elder God deity? Do you even care? Shoot it like every other bastard and stop asking questions! Shrek_fire.png|Shrek - Shrek is pissed that everyone seems to be invading his swamp. Can you sway him to your side, or are you destined to end up with a bleeding rectum? |-| Flying Monster Randomizer= While most Monsters are walking based entities, the Scrag is a flying opponent. Fitting it into the regular randomizer didn't make sense, since the opponent would drop to the ground and likely end up in an unintended spot. So we instead made the monster type define the randomizer, when we get some Rotfish variants there probably will be a Swimming Monster Randomizer. Otherwise this is pretty much the same as the normal Monster Randomizer. Note that the way this is done means that only levels with Scrag entities get the chance to get these opponents. HellScrag_fire.png|Hell Scrag - The Blazing Fiend's aerial cousin! While normal in movement, its projectiles can only be summarized as a Shotgun blast of fire from Hell. Circle Strafing is a necessity. |-| Weapon Randomizer= To have a fairer shot of taking down the hoards, we have also provided you with a Weapon Randomizer. Oh, who are we kidding, we swapped all the vanilla Weapon entities around so that you can get a Thunderbolt on a level with no Cells. Still, it is the only way to find these Custom Weapons outside of having it in the default loadout. LaserGunPain.png|Laser Gun - A weaker alternative to the Thunderbolt, the Laser Gun fires dual projectiles normally used by the Enforcer. Bounces off Knights, Death Knights, and garbage cans. General Changes Outside of the addition of the randomizer, which is the main focus of this modification, we have included a wide number of additional changes to make gameplay flow all the more. Level Changes * Vanilla levels now go directly to secret levels, regardless of exit, which means they can't be skipped as easily. They also just jump immediately to the next episode so we don't need to worry about the starting map. The latter was done to prevent players from swapping difficulties. We want Nightmare on the server, nothing easier. * Made enter the dragon into an introductory level for four new Episodes made entirely of 1996 levels. General Gameplay Changes * For further balance, since most levels are separate entities entirely, every level essentially resets the player's inventory like Introduction would. This means that Runes should not be removed, but that other resources will not be carried over between levels. * Spectator mode is now a thing. Upon death, you shall be sent to spectator mode, where you can watch the living players try to survive the hostile world. Will they save you by making it to the next level, allowing you to respawn, or will they die in battle as well? Even if the level doesn't have Cooperative support, it isn't a problem, it doesn't subtract from the frag count. Only when the frag count goes negative, which happens upon any other death, will the player get forced into spectator mode. Environment Changes * Drowning doesn't hurt Armor, but damages health directly. Not the biggest of changes, but felt it was useful just for practicality. * Water slows down the velocity of projectiles. This is only really noticeable with the Grenade Launcher, which is practical and feels like it belongs in the game. * Anything can go through Teleporters, including projectiles. Just adds a bit more variety, experimentation, and strategy by using map mechanics to your advantage. * Anything can also go through a Wind Tunnel, especially Grenade Launcher projectiles. * Nails now can stick to walls or bounce off them. Quite interesting to use them strategically around a wall, plus it makes Nail Traps a bit more chaotic. Note Scrags fire essentially fire Nails according to the code, so now they fire projectiles that can bounce and be even more lethal. * You can push around Radioactive Containers. Not the biggest of things, but could be used in some strategic circumstance, and makes things that much more interactive. Monster Changes * Backpacks explode, meaning dead Grunts and Ogres can create hazards in firefights. A bit of additional danger. Also included is a custom obituary dedicated to just how lethal these things have turned out to be. * Enemies can now remove most items from play just by picking them up. Best not to let them wander or you may find yourself short on Ammo. * Enemies that pick up a Pentagram of Protection can use them, so be VERY careful not to have one do this. * Crucified Zombies can be gibbed. All Monsters have solid corpses that can be hacked apart to create a gibbed head. Gibbed heads can be kicked around the world or destroyed. All useful features to just make the world that much more interactive. * Ogres are more accurate. * Added a custom obituary for Chthon since there was none included in the vanilla game. * Added the Rotfish fix. Now most levels are able to be properly completed. * Changed the final frame for Shub-Niggurath to look more like a victory screen. Powerup Changes * When players die, they no longer drop Backpacks. Every bit of Ammo counts. * Quad Damages work like Doom berserk packs. They last longer, but only amplify your Axe, making it harder to clear out areas. Useful since we generally know the Secrets and the game is too generous with Quad Damages. To remove confusion, I have renamed the Quad Damage, it is now the "Berserk Pack". * All Armor types have been significantly nerfed. A Red Armor only has 100 points, while weaker types are even lower. Absorption rate is also based on armor values, meaning it gets worse with the armor. Should balance out more with players knowing where all the Secrets are. Weapon Changes * All non-rapid fire Weapons can now fail. The Shotgun and Double-Barrelled Shotgun can now jam for a few seconds; while the Rocket Launcher/Grenade Launcher will explode and kill the player. Essentially, this shouldn't kill regular play, but will punish players that like to hold down the button endlessly, such as by spamming grenades constantly around a corner. * The Rocket Launcher fires Rottweilers. This way we can have a proper Quakewikia server where we fire barking dogs at Shrek. Wouldn't be a Quakewikia server without this feature. * The Sniper Rifle has been added and is part of everyone's inventory, a bit of a hybrid of both found on the Wikia, primarily being based off the non-TF version. Got the Nail projectiles to properly bounce off walls, also got the Sniper Rifle to be selectable by Mousewheel. The player starts with no extra Nails, but can find some in the level to use it. Is designed to be bound to the 9th key. Works well for a bit of stealth gameplay. Also made the Quad Damage changes compatible since it is managing an entirely separate form of damage. Added a proper death message (in the rare event someone kills someone else with it). Like the Team Fortress version, the Rifle can only be fired when stationary (and has the longer waiting time of 3 seconds instead of 1.2), meaning it is a horrible idea against Fiends. Added an exception for Zombies to prevent them from being killed by it. Known Issues * Players don't have solid corpses or solid heads. It seems there was attempts to fix this, but so far they just cause the game to crash. Gibs are essentially defined in the player code, but the head code has to be defined afterwards, meaning it isn't as easy to reference as a monster. If the body is solid, something has to be thrown. A non-solid head can be defined earlier, meaning the player could have a solid corpse, but not a solid head. Due to player defining all other corpses, a solid player body would result in all other heads not being solid. Due to solid heads working a lot on omissions of things needed for a solid body for the player to work, this means they are essentially incompatible unless I can find a way to get them to work better with each other. MOST mods seem to just make the body solid, not the head, but the head being solid seems like a better feature than a solid player body. Credits * id Software - Quake - Obviously. * Shrek - Most sounds by DominusMortem. * Custom Skin List by individual authors on Custom .MDL Files. * Snakeman and Welcome to Bubbah's Lair by Tan Sian Yue. * Willy the Spider by Stan C. * Original Hell Scrag idea, sounds, and model by Toby Reed. * Original Psionic Slug idea, sounds, and model by Jim Rowley. * Blazing Fiend and Yeti (regular and gibbed head skins) by Eric. * Original Laser Gun idea, sounds, and model by Jack the Stripper. * Anomaly sounds by KFC. * enter the dragon by Scott McNutt. * All other levels we touch by their respective authors. * ASMOQC11 - AsmodeusB - Ability for Monsters to pick up resources. * BERSERK - Peter - Nerf for Quad Damage. * CSPIKE10 - Charlie Zimmerman - Nail projectile mechanics. * Doggie Rocket - Adam - Rocket Launcher projectile. * exploding backpack - foobar - the code to make a backpack explode. * GIBBIN3 - Jason Carter - the best solid monster modification I have found; has good bounding boxes and includes head support. * Godel Quake C Mods - David Wiedenmann - Original base of this mod with a large amount nerfed or removed. Only small things like killing Crucified Zombies remain. * MORNING STAR - Mike - Chthon death message. * Quake 1.06 fish bug fix - Karel Suhajda - Rotfish fix. * Realistic Armor - Reptilian - Armor nerf. * Realistic Weapons - Cameron Newham - Weapons jamming or failing. Water slowing grenades. * ServerModules - Johannes Plass - Base for spectator mode mechanics. Level swapper so any order can be set. * SG - Shannon Greene - Drowning injures health directly. Head physics. Teleporter for all entities. * Smart Weapon Patch - SoniC - Sniper Rifle. * SHUBFIX - Unknown - Changes ending victory screen animation. * TeamFortress - Robin Walker/ John Cook - Sniper Rifle can only fire when stationary, longer waiting time, sounds. * Ultimate Quake - Michael Gummelt - Ogre accuracy and the idea for movable Radioactive Containers. __NOEDITSECTION__ Category:Blog posts